A/N Dun duh duh dah! Here it is, my first FMA fic. ^.^
Actually, the real reason I wrote this was for my friend who's graduating this year (you know who you are :P) and this is part of my graduation present to you, so I hope you like it! It was supposed to be a surprise, which is why I couldn't tell you, but you halfway dragged it out anyways. ^.^
So, this is the summary: It follows up the first anime up until the movie. The major points are that Ed has disappeared, Al has his body back and that awesome alchemy that lets him transfer part of his soul into an object or whatever, and almost everyone thinks that Ed is dead. Haha, that rhymed. Aaanyways, there are some changes. I made it so that Al still has his memories and Roy is still in the military. When Ed suddenly reappears seemingly out of nowhere after two years, how does everyone react; especially Winry?
Please enjoy!
Winry felt like her heart would stop beating as she saw Al trudge up the front steps to where she stood in front of Central's military base. It wasn't the Al in armor either; it was the Al from four years ago, literally in the flesh and blood. His brownish-gold hair shone dully in the fading light, and his amber eyes were hard to mistake. He had a tired and devastatingly sad look about him, as if his world had come crashing down around him, one that didn't seem to suit his ten year old body. Rose walked behind him, giving him space.
"Al!" Winry exclaimed, running to greet him and embracing him tightly. "You're back! I'm so glad you two finally got your bodies back." That was when it hit her. "Al…where's Ed?" She let go of Al and looked him in the eyes, already knowing, and dreading, the answer before he spoke it.
"Brother is…he…he's gone," Al choked out. His voice sounded harsh, and Winry wondered whether it was because he was still getting used to his body again or if it was because he had been crying earlier. Probably both.
Winry's stomach clenched painfully and a heavy weight seemed to drop in her chest, making it hard to breathe. "What?" she rasped, hoping she had heard him wrong. Or maybe it was all just a bad dream, and she'd wake up to see Ed waving at her in front of her house, yelling that he broke his automail again and need her to replace it.
Al shook his head as if it physically pained him to do so. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry." He kept repeating it to himself, at first in an apologetic tone and then breaking into sobs. Winry hugged him, as much to comfort him as to hold onto something to stop from falling into a dark abyss that threatened to swallow her.
"It isn't your fault, Al," Winry murmured softly, smoothing his hair. She could feel him shake with grief as he tried to explain what had happened.
"Ed, he died, but then I used the Philosopher's Stone to bring him back," he cried unevenly. "I don't know what happened after that, I think I disappeared, but when I came back, Ed was gone and a huge transmutation circle was drawn, similar to the one we used to transmute our mom back then. Oh, Winry, it was awful. I knew what he had done; he had sacrificed himself to save me. Why did he do it, Winry, why?" By the end, Al was screaming and clenching his fists tightly.
Winry hardly noticed Mustang, Hawkeye, Armstrong, and all the other officers she was friends with behind her. The colonel had taken off his hat in respect, and the others had followed suit, most of them wiping their eyes discreetly. Winry didn't even know that she was crying until she tried to speak again but was stopped by the sadness choking her.
Rose held back, as if unwilling to interrupt their sorrow with her presence. They all just stood there for a moment until Hawkeye came up behind Winry and laid a hand on her shoulder and Al's. She gently guided them inside the building, murmuring her apologies to them until they reached Mustang's office.
"Go ahead and sit down, I'll be right back with some water," Hawkeye told them softly. Her eyes were kind as she looked at the two, something Winry rarely saw in the lieutenant. However, she was too wrapped up in her own grief to do anything but nod. When Hawkeye left the room, Winry turned to Al, who was wiping his eyes roughly.
It must be so hard on him, Winry thought. First he lost his mother and body, and when he finally got his body back, he lost his brother. Plus, he was probably blaming himself for Ed being gone. "It wasn't your fault, Al," she finally said. "You know Ed wouldn't let you die in place of him without doing anything. He would…he would want you to be happy, with or without him."
Al shook his head. "I'm going to find him," he said, his voice determined but still harsh. "I know he's out there; he couldn't die that easily, he just couldn't. You think that too, right Winry?"
To be honest, Winry didn't know exactly what she believed at the moment. A world without Ed didn't seem possible, but the fact was that he was gone. Winry just shook her head as if to clear it from confusion. "I don't know, Al," she whispered, leaning forward to rest her head on her hands.
Al looked saddened by her prospect, but no less deterred. "I'm going to go and take the State Alchemists' exam," he suddenly announced.
"What?" Winry exclaimed. "Al, why on earth would you want to be a State Alchemist? You know what it was like on Ed." Al's face fell momentarily, but he took a deep breath and recovered himself.
"I know, but if I'm going to find a way to bring him back, I need to do a lot of research; research I can only do with the resources provided to State Alchemists," Al explained. "It isn't going to be easy, but it will be near impossible if I can't access every source available."
"Al, you aren't thinking of human transmutation or making another Philosopher's Stone are you?" Winry asked warily.
Al shook his head. "No, Brother and I already learned our lesson about that," he answered her. "I'm going to find another way to get him back. I'm sorry, Winry."
"Stop apologizing, Al, it isn't your fault," Winry told him. She was silent for a moment, debating whether she should tell Al to go and try to find Ed like he wanted to, or stay in Resembool with her, where she could see him everyday and help him like she couldn't do before. With a guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach, Winry knew that the latter choice was selfish, but she wasn't sure what she would do if Al decided to leave so soon after he was back. Worst of all, he wouldn't even have a reason to stop by anymore since Ed wouldn't need maintenance check on his automail.
"Al…is there anything I could say to make you come back with me to Resembool?" Winry whispered.
Al paused and seemed to understand what Winry was thinking. His eyes softened as he answered her. "No, Winry, I'm sorry. I won't stop until Ed is back, no matter what I have to do. I promise I'll visit you every chance I get, and Granny too."
Winry felt tears starting up in her eyes again, blurring her vision. She wiped the back of her hand across her face quickly, not wanting to show Al how upset she was; she didn't want to make him feel guilty. "Then good luck, Al," she said. "I hope you find…what you're looking for." Winry had been about to say 'I hope you find Ed,' but saying his name, even thinking it, hurt her too much.
Mustang and the others came into the office, and Hawkeye handed Winry and Al glasses of water. Al sipped his gratefully, but Winry found she could only stare at the placid surface of the water. Ed…what had happened to him? Was he really dead, or was he just somewhere else, like Al's body had been?
When Winry took notice of her surroundings again, she found that Al must have told his plan to Mustang, because he was talking about the State Alchemists' exam that would be taking place in a few months. Al listened to him intently, and Winry could tell he didn't want to wait a few months before he could actually become a State Alchemist.
"Is there any way I could do research like I was doing before with Ed without State qualifications?" Al asked.
"Not unless you've got another State Alchemist with you," Mustang replied. "If you could find someone who would be willing to go with you to a place with restricted access, then yes, you could." Just as Al opened his mouth to speak, Mustang shook his head. "I'll be busy trying to rebuild the military because of Fuhrer Bradley's betrayal; I can't go with you."
Al nodded his understanding reluctantly. "Then I think I should get started studying for the exam," he said.
"Al, just remember you're always welcome at our house," Winry spoke up. "Whenever you want; it's your home too, you know."
Al tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "Brother and I burned down our home a long time ago," was all he said before leaving the room, not looking at anyone. The room was silent before Mustang spoke again.
"Losing Full Metal was a big blow to him; we should let him get over it in his own way, in his own time," he murmured, more to himself than anyone else.
"Colonel, do you believe that Ed is still alive?" Winry asked suddenly, looking at Mustang with eyes glazed with sadness. Mustang hesitated before he answered.
"I know the taboo of human transmutation, but what Ed did seems different from four years ago," he replied, choosing his words carefully. "I don't know what the price he had to pay to get Al back was, but we can be sure it was costly. There's no way to say for sure whether he's dead or alive until we see him with our own eyes."
"Winry, do you want me to get you a train ticket back to Resembool?" Hawkeye offered.
"Yes please, Lieutenant, thank you," Winry answered in a flat voice. Hawkeye left the office, grabbing her coat from the rack on her way out, and the other officers also dispersed one by one until only Winry and Mustang were left.
"Well Winry, it's your choice for what you should do now," Mustang said as he stood up from his desk.
"My whole life has been about automail, and I really wanted to make a perfect arm and leg for Ed. Maybe then he wouldn't need to risk his life all the time to try and find the Philosopher's Stone to restore his body…"
"You know Ed wouldn't stop looking for it until Al got his body back," Mustang mused. "Still, I suppose it was a good goal. You need to find your own path now, with a new goal." With that, Mustang left and Winry was alone.
However, the thought of a new goal was inconceivable to Winry; she had never wanted anything more than to help people, namely Ed. But what Mustang had said was true; she couldn't spend the rest of her life just living, with no hopes or dreams to try and make real.
Winry looked out of the window at the busy street below, at all of the cheerful faces and happy people and wished she could be one of them too. Sighing, she knew what she was going to do from now on. She would perfect her automail; after all, if Al did manage to find Ed, it wouldn't be long before he needed a new arm and leg. The thought made Winry smile slightly, and she stood up.
It was time to start walking forward.
The first few weeks back at Resembool seemed almost normal to Winry, though much more quiet. There was an expectant tension in the air, and she kept imagining that Ed would walk through the front door, that idiotic smile on his face as he asked for Winry to repair his automail, which would be torn to shreds, of course. But after one month, Ed's absence really began to sink in. Winry stopped looking out of her window at the empty path that led up to their front door and no longer raced to the door when someone knocked on it.
As depressing as the thought was, Ed was really, truly gone. Al still hadn't come back after two months, but Winry knew he was busy studying for the State Alchemists' exam and was also aware that the date for that particular event was slowly creeping up. It seemed everything was happening slowly, each day crawling by unnoticed until four months had passed since Ed's disappearance.
Winry had been devoting all of her time to automail as she had resolved to, and the work was coming along nicely. She had designed a completely new model for a leg and was in the process of creating a new arm that would be lighter and not put as much strain on the body. Even though she knew Ed was gone, she couldn't stop thoughts like Ed will be so happy when he sees this from running through her mind.
Word had come from Al that he had successfully passed the State Alchemists' exam and would be coming home for a short visit soon. Winry looked forward to seeing him again, but maybe it was because of a lonely sense of dread that had been weighing down on her lately.
When Al came, the house seemed to brighten somewhat, as did Winry and Granny Pinako. "Al, there you are!" Winry called as Al came walking up the path one morning. She ran to greet him and started talking nonstop. "Congratulations on passing the exam! Of course, there was never any doubt you wouldn't. You were always good at alchemy, just like your brother. How's your research been going? Any breakthroughs or promising leads?"
Al took her barrage of questions and comments with a weary smile on his face, and Winry suddenly stopped, embarrassed. She hadn't realized that she had been so lonely that the first time she saw Al she would start blurting everything out to him. He looked so tired, as if he could just fall over asleep right where he stood.
"Al, are you okay?" Winry asked gently.
"I'm fine, Winry," Al quickly assured her. "Just a little tired, that's all. I'll never know how Ed managed to sleep on those trains; they're so bumpy and rough. I haven't found anything yet, but I know I will. How have you been?"
"Everything's been going okay," Winry answered. "I've been working on some new designs for my automail. Maybe later, would you like to see them?"
"I'm not a mechanic; I probably wouldn't understand any of it," Al laughed. Seeing the crestfallen look on Winry's face, he quickly added, "But I'd love to see them."
Al met Granny with his usually politeness before he went upstairs to get some sleep. Winry was impatient for him to wake up so that she could ask more thoroughly about his research on trying to find a way to bring Ed back, but she knew that if Al had found anything important, he would have either told her as soon as he got here or would keep it a secret if it was dangerous. Meaning, there was nothing Winry could find out from him.
Al left two days later, and didn't return for another few months. Slowly, and without really even noticing it, two years passed by since Ed's disappearance. Not much changed; Al grew, and Winry grew, and Granny Pinako stayed the same as she had always been.
The phone rang downstairs, and Winry hurried down out of her room to get it. "Hello?" she answered.
"Winry?" It was Al.
"It's me, Al," Winry replied, leaning back against the wall of the hallway. "What's up?"
"I think I'm going to come visit tomorrow," Al told her. "If that's okay."
"Of course it's okay, Al, it goes without saying," Winry said. "Anything new come up?" The usual question. The usual tired sigh on the other line. The usual "No, not yet" in answer. "I see…that's too bad. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Bye Winry," Al replied, then hung up. Winry listened to the constant beeping of the phone before hanging it up. Even now, she still thought about Ed all the time. She had known that no amount of time could ever make her forget about him, and she didn't want to either, but she had hoped it would at least dull the pain a little. But no, it felt as if it had only been yesterday when Al trudged up the Central steps with the news that Ed was gone, and the hurt and heartbreak felt just as fresh and painful as it had on that first day.
"Granny, I'm going to try and finish up the new automail leg I've been working on," Winry told her grandmother, who stood in the kitchen.
"Don't be up too late, especially since it sounds like Al is coming tomorrow," Granny Pinako told her. "You don't want to be tired for that, now do you?"
"No Granny," Winry replied, and went back upstairs to her room.
Winry was halfway done with connecting the nerves in the leg when the doorbell rang. Glancing up at the clock above her work table, Winry was surprised to see it was two in the morning. Who calls on us this late? Winry wondered as she went to answer the door. Was it Al? It had to be. Though he could have given a little warning that he was going to be arriving this early.
The doorbell rang again. "I'm coming, Al!" Winry called as she nearly tripped down the steps. When Winry finally got to the door, she was fully awake and totally unprepared for what happened next.
Winry opened the door to see none other than Edward Elric standing on her front doorstep.
A/N Sooo, how was it? I really hoped you enjoyed it, and I apologize for the rushed feeling, but I just wanted to get to the part where Ed comes back and the real plot begins. XD
Please review! :D
P.S. Happy graduation! Good luck at college, and don't forget to come visit us! ^.^
